Social Service in South Wales
1937-1938
THE FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF
THE SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE
COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE
SOCIAL SERVICE
IN SOUTH WALES
Fourth Annual Report
OF
The South Wales and Monmouthshire
Council of Social Service
1937-38
THE SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE
COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE
Affiliated with the National Council of Social Service.
Patron : HIS MAJESTY THE KING.
President: The Rt. Rev. The LORD BISHOP OF LLANDAFF.
Chairman : L. TWISTON DAVIES, O.B E., D.L., F.S.A.
Hon Treasurer : J. LL. MORGAN.
Finance and General Purposes Committee :
The President. Major Edgar Jones, o.b.e., m.a.
The Chairman. Mrs. Mansel Lewis.
The Hon. Treasurer. Sir Ewen J. Maclean, m.d., d.l.
Hon. J. H. Bruce, d.l. Principal J. F. Rees, m.a.
Aid. W. Jenkin James, o.b.e., m.a. J. Saddler.
R. R. Sir William Jenkins, m.p. Williams, o.b.e., m.a.
Assessors
District Commissioner for the Capt. Geoffrey Crawshay, d.l.
Special Areas.
J. Owain Evans, c.b.e. Ministry of Health.
C. Bryner Jones, c.b.e. Ministry of Agriculture.
R. Pierce Jones, o.b.e. .. Ministry of Labour.
Sir Percy E. Watkins, ll.d. National Council of Social
Service.
Board of Education. W. J. Williams, m.a., c.i.
A. G. Prys Jones, m.a., h.m.i.
Secretary :
ELFAN REES, m.a.
Headquarters :
2, Cathedral Road, Cardiff.
Telephone : Cardiff 905-6.
PREFACE
in the first nine months of the THE most remarkable, and the mostyearremarkedunder reviewuponhashappeningbeen the hopefulin Southimprove¬Wales
ment in trade and employment. Improvements in the coal and steel industries
and in shipping, and also the successful efforts of the Commissioner for Special Areas
in introducing some new industries, combined to give work where none seemed likely
a year ago and to give hope where hope had died. The achievement, for achievement
it was, richly deserved the publicity and recognition it received and, had this Report
been written in December, 1937, rather than April, 1938, the Council could have
subscribed to the general view that South Wales had at last turned the corner of trade
depression. Unfortunately, however, the last three months have failed lamentably
to fulfil the promise of the previous nine, and a recession which commenced in January
and has continued since has gravely worsened the unemployment situation in South
Wales.
While it is unfair to assume the permanence of this set-back, it is equally unfair
to ignore it, and the Council is compelled to emphasise that the present unemployment
situation in South Wales is not one in which crisis no longer exists and from which men
can turn with relieved consciences. At best it is a situation in which the abnormal
and the " meanwhile " have receded only sufficiently to leave more clearly defined a
series of long term problems to which the only approach would seem to be by way of
equally long term policies.
There are still today, in March, 1938, 160,524 unemployed persons in Wales, and
the unemployment percentage for the Principality is 24.4 per cent, as compared with an
average for the whole country of 12.5 per cent. What is a matter of even greater con¬
cern is that, with as many as 39,916 men in the Principality recorded as out of work
for more than a year, Wales has by far the largest proportion of long unemployed.
Thousands of them have been without work for over five years and the recent
trade improvement has only served to emphasise their isolation from employment.
Here, clearly defined, is a special problem in that there are thousands of men, especially
in the age groups 45-65, who are called unemployed, and who are served, both
statutorily and voluntarily, by machinery whose very design presumes their return
to employment and yet, in point of fact, they are men for whom work again on ordinary
commercial terms is a very remote possibility.
The earlier improvement in employment has raised, too, into a prominence which
wholesale unemployment has denied it, but should not be allowed to do so again, the
problems of the employed man. He is finding to his bewilderment that his long
looked for work is no panacea for all his ills. The difference between wages in many
industries and average unemployment allowances is not as great as the difference in
the demands a community makes upon its employed and unemployed members. Free
school meals for his children, cobbling facilities at his Centre, reduced fees for his
5 Institute and Trade Union, the talisman of his card at the Cinema or Football match: these bare essentials of public sympathy, which help a little in the rigours of unemploy¬ ment, are not available to the man in work. The object now not of sympathy but of congratulations, the recipient no longer of concessions but of demands, he has to take his place in the community bearing his share of its burdens, repair the depredations of unemployment in his own home, pay fares to his work that often amount to 4/- each week, find the extra food and clothing a man at work needs. He has to do all this a and live life in which he is presumed to be better off. While his leisure hours are fewer, his very work creates in him a need for recreation which is not easily satisfied from his own resources.
So we face, and indeed belong to, a community that has to rebuild, not its old institutions and habits and standards of living, but something new ; something which must take into account its suffering and its poverty and its comparative lack of youth and of leadership, its thousands who have ceased to exist as competitors in the labour market more and its thousands who, even in work, exist on a lamentably low standard of life.
And as we face it we must ensure that a too ready and, at present, unjustified assumption of improvement is not allowed to obscure the volume of need that remains.
6 \ SOCIAL SERVICE
1. It is a most unfortunate consequence of the happenings of recent years that in South Wales the term Social Service has come to be defined in as narrow a way as " something to do with the unemployed " and that the Council itself is regarded by many as a body concerned exclusively with a special, and not always approved, form of welfare work amongst unemployed persons. When it is remembered that the main cause of the Council's establishment in 1934 was widespread unemployment and that its main supports have been public sympathy evoked by, and public funds confined to, either unemployed persons or the Special Areas, it is not difficult to see how this conception has grown up. It was perhaps wise that in these early years the Council did not stop to define, but concentrated on the work to its hand for which financial assistance was available. The time has now come, however, when a need is clearly indicated not only for a correction of the current misconception of the function of the Council, but for a clear and positive definition of its aims and purpose.
2. Social Service has a special and traditional place of its own in the life of
South Wales and it is an odd comment on the current conception of it that some of the leaders of Social Service would repudiate all connection with the suspect thing.
The administration of local government and petty justice, the management and
maintenance of hospitals and district nursing associations, the voluntary service
of one's community in hundreds of ways, is Social Service, and who will deny that,
in many different guises, it is of the essence of life in South Wales ? Social service
is enterprise which proceeds from a concern for human needs and human disabilities
and any action which, out of a welter of bad housing and poverty, unemployment
and bad employment, inadequate provision of recreational and cultural facilities,
seeks to create " a green and pleasant land " is its task and its definition. It begins
where statutory provision stops short and it seeks, by example and experiment
in meeting unrecognised social needs, to tweak the conscience of the State and
gain, for that particular need, both recognition and provision. It recognises
too that deficiencies in statutory provision are almost balanced by ignorance of, or
inability to use, existing provision and it seeks, therefore, to ensure a wider and fuller
use of such provision as already exists for human well being. This is Social Service—
the mouthpiece of inarticulate social needs, the pioneer in their experimental provision
and the propagandist of provision already made. It will be clear from a definition
which makes such high claims that Social Service will always be a much bigger thing
than any Council which bears that name can comprehend. But, while this admission
is necessary, it should be said with equal emphasis that in this wide field of endeavour
lie at once the basis and the aims of the Council itself.
3. Three events have coincided to make this restatement and readjustment
necessary at this time.
In the first place unemployment, while remaining the major problem, was for a
time reduced to an extent that revealed the existence and the neglect of other more
general problems.
Secondly, the National Council of Social Service has decided, following on the
retirement of Sir Percy Watkins, to close its Cardiff office and lay upon the South
Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service the burden and challenge in
South Wales of the work with which it is concerned.
Thirdly, the Council itself has become an incorporated body with a consequent
definition of its aims in a Memorandum, and the constitution of the Council on a
representative basis.
4. The future holds many new tasks and responsibilities, the problems of rural
life and ofurban communities, the need for accurate social information based on research,
the problems of children and old men in their hours of leisure, possibilities of co¬
operation in the National Fitness campaign, and the call for a common, though not
enveloping, rallying point for voluntary bodies of every kind, make claims upon the
Council that only high courage and unity of purpose can answer.
7 WEAVING IN THE GLOOM
5. More than, one-fourth of the working population of South Wales is still
without work and the social problems of unemployment abide as a major issue in the
life of the community.
Social 6. There are now some 220 Clubs in the area attempting, each in its own way,
Service to provide for the interminable " time to spare " of its members. It is a great pity
Clubs. that so many persist in regarding these Clubs as local branches controlled by the
Council, for this misconception obscures the real miracle that each Club is a
spontaneous local growth—self maintaining and self governing. Some attempt
realistically to assess the place of these Clubs in the community at the present time
is now being made and should be of real value to this phase of the Council's work.
Occupation. 7. Statistically the situation is clear and easy to state. The average member¬
ship of the Clubs remains at about 120 with, on the whole, no great variations in the
actual personnel. It is fairly clear that the Clubs generally appeal far more to men
in the older age groups and have failed to attract in any large numbers those between
18-30 years of age. The programme of activities, while varying in intensity and
variety from Club to Club, remains much about the same and interest appears to
continue unabated in the various activities for which specialised instruction is made
available. Instructors in Craftwork and Physical Training attached either to Settle¬
ments or to the Council are within reach of every Club and the demand for their
services is constant. Classes in Upholstery" and Weaving have proved especially
successful during the year. The following table of instructional visits for the quarter
ending March 31st, 1938, is some indication of the place that occupational activity
plays in the average Club programme :—
No. of Clubs Total Total No. of Average at Visited by Visits paid. Attendance. a Class. Instructors.
Craftwork 10 146 1,900 18,211
Physical
Training 109 1,916 28,617 15
It is good to report that, with very few exceptions, Clubs do not debar
members who secure employment from continuing their membership, and one of the
very striking features of the past year has been the high percentage of employed men
who have attended regularly the Physical Training and Crafts Classes in the Clubs.
Camps. 8. The annual Summer Camps have, of course, been as popular as ever and
remain one of the notable services the Council is able to render, not only because of
the opportunity they provide of a holiday, but because of the fellowship and sense
of common purpose they generate and the very marked effect they have on the life
of Clubs in the subsequent winter. During the year 3,499 men from Clubs attended
camps either organised or grant-aided by the Council.
8
Leadership. 9. In face of such factors as transference, re-employment and time itself, there
must necessarily be changes, and sometimes deterioration, in the leadership of the
Clubs, but their most striking characteristic continues to be the high quality of
leadership they throw up. Here surely is proof positive of the value of this movement.
A man who has suffered the effects of unemployment over a period of years is not
always a social asset, and it is because the Social Service Clubs of South Wales are self-
governing working-class institutions indigenous to their communities and giving a
first class training in democracy, that they have succeeded in preserving so many
thousands to be still, aware, alive and valuable assets in community life.
Training. I0- During the year 239 Club members have attended the special Short Courses for leaders at Coleg Harlech, and somewhat similar courses in Craftwork at King's
Standing, while the Council itself has organised day and two-day Courses in subjects
varying from book-keeping to bookbinding which were attended by some 800 Club
members. These occasions are perhaps the most vital and encouraging within the
experience of the Council.
The Future. 11 ■ The ultimate future of the Clubs is not easy of assessment even now, and
the only certainty is that, because they are all independent institutions and, therefore,
different from each other, no one formula can be applied to them and no one future
can be forecast for them.
12. It is fairly clear that some Clubs, more especially those that have been
established in areas where there was no previous social provision, will develop into
permanent Community Clubs. Indeed, in some instances, where women and
employed men, as much as unemployed men, are an integral part of the membership,
this development has already taken place. Some Clubs may advisedly cease to
exist, either because their special service is no longer required or because the example
they have set has moved some stronger local institution to provide similar facilities.
Workmen's *3- ^ 1S one °f t^ie best features of the year that a considerable step forward has
Institutes. been made in bringing about co-operation between the Clubs and the older Workmen's
Institutes in the area. The danger of overlapping and of an undue multiplication of
social institutions, with the consequent strain of maintenance, has been apparent all
along. The rapid development ofthe Club movement, however, not always welcomed by
older institutions, is due in large measure to the fact that groups of unemployed men
were much quicker to define and meet their own needs than were these older
institutions to recognise and provide against the special social effects of unemployment.
The scene is changing now and there seems every prospect of close and effective
co-operation between Clubs and neighbouring Workmen's Institutes, and in a
few instances the fusion of the one with the other. The establishment by the Council
of a Joint Consultative Committee on which the Workmen's Institutes' point of view
is strongly represented should be, in itself, a guarantee of a hopeful future in this
respect.
14. The future of the majority of Clubs time alone can determine. With
each passing year the average age of their members increases and, because of this
tendency and because too of their experience, it is possible that the Clubs will be
the instrument at hand to meet one phase of the many-sided problem that arises in
South Wales consequent on the existence of a large block of ageing men whose prospects
of employment seem scarcely to exist. The eventuality involves quite material changes,
not only in the actual aims of the Clubs, but in the public assessment of their function.
10 It needs to be remembered that the Occupational Centre emerged out of the industrial
crisis as a temporary expedient to meet a meanwhile problem, and it is an extraordinary
anomaly that, in South Wales at any rate, a great number of these Clubs, with very
little change in their programme, have become the final retreat of the permanently unemployed.
15. While the Clubs have been the subject of unjustified suspicion and
misunderstanding in some quarters, it is well to remember that they can be the basis
of equally unjustified complacency in other quarters. The Club is an approach to the
problem of " Time to Spare " and of longed for fellowship, it has made little or no
contribution to the problem of poverty and has not aimed at doing so. If the Club comes
to be regarded as an answer to the problem of poverty it becomes, at the same time,
a bar to social progress, for from the Club itself, grappling with the problem of the
older men, comes the first admission that Unemployment Assistance and an Un¬
employed Club are not complete and adequate provision for men with twenty years, or
more, of life before them and no prospect of work.
16. When all has been done for them that should be done such men will still
need their Club (with a range of activity they can be relied upon to shape for them¬
selves), but it can serve them, not in relieving their poverty so much as in giving them
alternate interests, occupations, recreation and the fellowship of which so many are
robbed by unemployment. WOMEN
17. There are now well over 200 Women's Clubs in South Wales all opening up
new avenues of education to women who have never before had these opportunities pre¬
sented to them in the same way. Groups of women which originally came together with
the idea of alleviating distress, have found a firmer foundation in cultural and
educational activities. Despite their own special burdens, the Women's Clubs have
carried on with a fellowship and happiness which is engendered by the true spirit of
community service. So much a necessary part of the community have they become
that it is increasingly evident that even if unemployment becomes almost negligible
in South Wales they will continue to flourish in that they are meeting a real community
need.
18. The The Pro¬ organisation of Women's Clubs varies considerably. Some Women's
Clubs, while blem of maintaining their own identity, combine with the men for various activities. In the Men's Club Premises. buildings which have recently been erected, the
accommodation which has been allocated to the women has gradually become less and
less adequate, so that it appears increasingly necessary for the women to have a club
life and club premises of their own, while joining with the men for certain activities
which lend themselves to co-operation, such as drama, singing and social activities.
In some instances there is a joint committee of men and women for the management
of club business.
19. There are places where there are no Men's Clubs, and the Women's Clubs
pursue their special interests such as cookery, handicrafts, music, " Keep Fit" in
such premises as they can find. In other places the Women's Club has proved an
inspiration to the men with the result that premises are being erected. In practice
this does not always solve the question of accommodation for the women, as the men
find their building does not give them too much scope for their own activities. The
question of future development of Women's Clubs is closely related to that of
premises. The Council, while realising that premises do not make a club, recognises
that adequate accommodation is necessary for the expansion of the work.
Handi- 20. All Clubs are interested in handicrafts in the instruction of which the basis
crafts. is mostly utilitarian. Special attention is given to thrift crafts, by which apparently
waste materials can be converted into something of use.
Homecraft. 21 ■ Seventy-five Clubs have instruction in Homecraft. The Homecraft Department
again owes much to the co-operation of the Milk Marketing Board, St. John's
Ambulance Association, and the Red Cross Society for their help with lectures. As
a result of the Milk Marketing Board Lectures in one area, the members of the Women's
Clubs were so impressed that they agreed to do the work of distributing milk to the
school children during the school holidays.
22. There are Keep 90 " Keep Fit " classes in the area. Much of the prejudice
Fit" against the Women's " Keep Fit " movement is gradually being broken down, when
it is realised that the greatest possible care is taken in every direction, and that Women's
" Keep Fit " does not entail the strenuous physical training exercises which perhaps
the women associate with their school days. It consists rather of rhythmic exercises to
music calculated to give balance to the whole personality, and dancing of various
types designed to produce lightness and grace of movement.
12 Quilting in the garden of an old house that is now a Club. 23. The tendency is for all Clubs to have a balanced programme of activities.
In every instance where Clubs have been especially interested in the beginning in
one activity, the members have eventually asked for instruction in all activities, thus
catering for all members.
24. The following table of instructional visits for the quarter ended March
31st, 1938, is some indication of the activity of most Clubs :
No. of Clubs
Total Visited No. of Total Average at
by Instruc¬ Visits paid. Attendance. a Class.
tresses.
Handicraft 183 1,832 56,305 30
Homecraft 175 702 26,000 14
"
Keep Fit " . . 146 L372 20,946 15
Camps 25. About 3,000 members of Women's Clubs went for a week's holiday to
camp last year. The full value of the holiday to the community is only appreciated
when it is realised that many of the women had not spent a night away from home
for very many years ! Some had been used to their annual fortnight's holiday before
they were overtaken by the disaster of unemployment, but all mixed together in the
true holiday spirit and obtained the maximum benefit of release from household
duties and freedom from preparation of meals. All through the winter months the
question of camps can always be relied on to arouse enthusiasm even on the darkest
days. Campers always make good Club members. It was a real disappointment
that owing to lack of accommodation we were unable to run a Nursery School Camp
this year.
Leadership. 26. Part of the work of the Council's staff during the past year has been to
supply the necessary leadership in questions of organisation, finance, and the various
activities in the many schools which have been held in the area. Such schools seem
to be playing an increasing part in the life of Clubs. Three residential schools were
held at Barry and 75 One-day Schools in various parts of the area. In this connection
it is perhaps worth mentioning that one of the residential schools was concerned with
handicrafts. Quilting was the handicrafts chosen on this occasion. So successful
was the instruction given, and so apparent have been the beneficial effects in the Clubs
that it is hoped that residential handicraft schools will become a regular feature of the
Council's work. Lectures on Child Psychology have been a successful innovation
by the Homecraft Department. It is hoped to follow them up with a regular course
of some instruction in of the Clubs during this next year. Fruit and vegetable bottling
and jam-making schools were held in June and July.
2,7. The Council's thanks are due to the members of Men's Clubs who have in
innumerable practical ways helped their womenfolk to a fuller understanding of the
benefits of Club life. They have been ready with advice, made accommodation
possible, and given practical help in making furniture. Especial thanks are due to those
men who have made furniture for Women's Clubs which have no Men's Clubs to
14 which they can turn for help. In many other ways, by taking care of the children and relieving their womenfolk from household cares so that they may attend their Clubs, the men have contributed in no small way to the success of Women's Clubs. In the end, however, it is the loyalty and co-operation of the women themselves which has made possible the work which the Council's officers have endeavoured to do in the spirit of service and friendship.
28. Meanwhile, the development here recorded, which is made possible only by the sympathetic help of the Commissioner for Special Areas, serves more and more to emphasise the need for similar work amongst the thousands of women who live in areas of distress in South Wales that are not scheduled as Special Areas. The
Council is prevented by lack of funds from developing the work in these areas
and trusts that the maximum of support will be given to the Welsh Fair, which the
Countess of Plymouth is organising in October next, with a view to financing this
work outside the Special Areas.
15 VOLUNTARY HEALTH SERVICES
29. It is now two years since the Council was able to report that a grant had been received from the Commissioner for Special Areas which made possible a considerable improvement in the supply and maintenance of a more adequate nursing service in the Special Area of South Wales. Last year 66 out of the necessary total of 76 new
District Nurses had been appointed, with an average grant of £100 per nurse. The
Council is happy to report that, during the year under review, four further appoint¬ ments have been made, bringing the total up to 70.
30. The success of this experiment has been exceptional and has proved beyond doubt that a grant to assist an essential service of this kind receives a ready response from the area. The grant of £100 per nurse is equivalent to half the average cost of maintaining a district nurse for one year, so that the District Associations have had to raise voluntary income to at least an equivalent amount. For 70 nurses this sum amounts to £7,000 per annum.
31. Grants have been made for the establishment or maintenance of new nurses at:
Glamorgan.
Aberavon and Port Talbot Pontycymmer
Bargoed (2) Maesteg (3)
Pontlottyn Ogmore Vale
Dulais Valley (2) Gilfach Goch
Cwmavon (2) Tonyrefail
Pontypridd (2) Pencoed
Mid-Rhondda Ynysybwl
Glynneath Cwmbach
Penrhiwceiber Cwmaman
Cymmer and Abercregan Merthyr Vale and Aberfan
Abercynon and Ynysybwl Blaengarw
Nantymoel Gelligaer
Bedlinog Troedyrhiw
Abercwmboi Llanharan and Brynna
Mardy Aber and Blaengwynfi
Llantwit Fardre Tirphil
Tongwynlais and Morganstown Margam
Treharris Aberdare
Emergency Nurses (2).
Beddau T recynon
Hirwaun Abercanaid.
monmouthshire.
Abertillery, Cwmtillery and Six Bells (4) Tredegar
Llanhilleth and Aberbeeg Pontypool
Crumlin and Hafodyrynys Llanfrechfa, Upper Cwmbran and
Maesycwmmer, Fleur-de-Lis and Pontnewydd.
Pengam Ebbw Vale
New Tredegar Blackwood
Nantyglo Aberbargoed
Rhymney and Abertysswg Markham, Argoed and Hollybush
Risca and Pontymister
Beaufort Emergency Nurse (1).
16 SOUTH WALES" fr- MOariOltTMShlR£ COUttClL OF $OaM, SERVICE
Volantgry f-fcatttx Services
7o new district" mioses have been,
pee tutesc. Some of
now la their thirdyear £-• there cut:
6 more to be af^oloted .
Bax'u^ I33<3 ~ fcfee Area. x^lsoA tKc- stu»x of j&/«>&
in. oiAct" to tfic dx|vaC bdTCao Uac of
t'y ■txutA*& CKk Zat&L Aajnox. cost' ., In
■ oAAAXorx af^a$&iaza£iiy £ sxoo mi^wt £x" fcfiuk •
vrusinXZtkoavce* cj. Io**% cstAMsixcA $L£iru.t' tWsine
«•» - < • > - > • ' .
i. I r , 32. Smaller grants have also been made available for the assistance of old established District Nursing Associations at:
Sully, Lavernock and Wenvoe Pentre and District
Tylorstown, Pontygwaith and Stanley- Ferndale.
town Mid-Rhondda
Pentyrch, Creigiau and Llanilterne St. Brides Major
Caerphilly Red Cross Aberaman
Nelson Red Cross Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed and
Duffryn, Bryncoch and Rhydding District
Blaenavon Llanbradach Red Cross
Bedwas and Trethomas Treherbert
Pontnewynydd Abertridwr and Senghenydd
Machen Dinas Powis
Blackwood Peterston
Treorchy Ynyshir and Wattstown
Aberkenfig Tredegar
Laleston Abercarn, Cwmcarn and Pantywain
Risca and Pontymister Dowlais and Penydarren
Newbridge Cwmbran and Llantarnam
Pontypool and Panteg Crossways and Wattsville
Bassaleg, Rogerstone and Rhiwderin Cefn Coed, Vaynor
Pembroke Dock Crickhowell
Brynmawr.
Medical Comforts Depots.
33. The augmentation of the number of District Nurses has been responsible for a greatly increased demand for Medical Comforts in the form of sick room requisites which are indispensable for effective home nursing. Lady (Rhys) Williams first brought this important fact to the notice of the Health Services Committee of the Council, and an investigation revealed that while for many years the local Divisions of the Order of St. John (Priory for Wales) and the British Red Cross Society (Glamorgan Branch) had maintained a number of Medical Comforts Depots, in many instances their equipment was rather inadequate to meet the public demand owing to the prolonged depression, and in any case the incidence of Depots was quite inadequate.
34. After a survey of the existing and proposed Depots had been carried out, an application was made to the Commissioner for Special Areas and in December he agreed to provide a grant of £4,600 to enable approximately 60 Depots to be established or re-equipped, and to provide necessary equipment for district nurses working in the area. It has been found possible, however, within the financial limits imposed, to provide for 74 Depots instead of the 60 originally contemplated, which is greatly to the public advantage as in many districts comforts will be much more readily accessible. In addition to the equipment and establishment of Depots, an issue of Comforts in day to day use has been made to 143 District Nurses in the Area.
35. There is ample evidence that much sickness in the valleys of South Wales has to be endured and treated in the homes of the people, and for this reason the provision of Medical Comforts will greatly relieve the suffering and contribute materially to the recovery of those who are stricken by disease.
36. It would be impossible to refer to this new and valuable service rendered
during the year without acknowledging in a special way the Council's indebtedness
to Mr. James Walton who, acting as an Honorary Assistant Secretary, has borne single-
handed the whole burden of the survey, and the most efficient administration and
expenditure of the grant. The cordial co-operation of the Priory for Wales and
the British Red Cross Society (Glamorgan Branch) has also been of the greatest
assistance.
18 ADULT EDUCATION
37. During the past year the cause of Adult Education in South Wales has sustained a great loss through the death of Mr. John Davies, the Secretary of the
South Wales District of the Workers' Educational Association. Mr. John Davies was the Secretary of the original Joint Committee for the Promotion of Educational
Facilities in the South Wales Coalfield, which operated from 1929 to 1934 and, when the work of that Committee was merged in that of the South Wales and Monmouthshire
Council of Social Service, he was the first Secretary of the Education Committee of the Council. John Davies' wide experience of adult education work was always at the service of the Education Committee, and South Wales can ill afford his loss at this juncture.
38. Meanwhile the work goes on and Adult Education continues as one of the main activities fostered by the Social Service Movement in South Wales. An adequate indication of the progress and development of this work is found in the fact that an expenditure in 1929 of £<,,000 on this work amongst unemployed and other persons in the depressed area of South Wales has gradually grown until last year it amounted to no less than £21,000.
39. The work is administered by the Education Committee of the Council which forms a kind of " pool " into which grants and voluntary income flow and from which the money is distributed in grants to the co-operating bodies who do the actual work in the field.
40. The income of the Committee is derived from four principal sources :—
(1) Seven Local Education Authorities in the area who co-operate in the
work and who, in 1937-38, made grants totalling to £2,080.*
(2) Funds privately raised.
(3) Grants from the Commissioner for the Special Areas.
(4) Grants earned from the Board of Education.
41. During 1937-38 the generous help of the Commissioner and in a lesser degree of private funds, enabled the Committee to add £13,000 to the grant from the
Local Education Authorities.
42. The sum total of the income amounted in 1937-38 to £18,000 exclusive of grants from the Board of Education, and this money was made available by the
Committee for approved expenditure by :
(a) The South Wales District of the Workers' Educational Association.
(b) The University Council of Music.
(c) The Welsh National Council of Y.M.C.A.'s.
(d) The Welsh Area Council for Group Listening.
(e) The Drama Committee of the Council.
* Grants were received from the following Local Education Authorities : Breconshire,
Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr, Monmouthshire, Rhondda, Swansea.
19 Classes.
43. The Workers' Educational Association is the body responsible for the
establishment and conduct of Terminal and One-Year Courses and also of Day Schools.
During the year there have been conducted within the Area of the Council
126 Terminal Classes, 48 One-Year Courses, and 87 One-Day Schools.
A brief analysis of the work is as follows :—
One-Year Terminal One-Day Short Area. Courses. Courses. Schools. Courses.
1 Carmarthen . . 11 3 3
- Swansea 10 5 3
1 Glamorgan 14 3i 19
Rhondda 21 5 17 4
1 Merthyr 3 10 5
-
Cardiff. . 3 7 19
28 - Monmouth 13 15
- Newport 1 3 4
Brecon. . 1 2 2 1
Pembroke — — 3
The Short Courses were extensions of classes for periods of 4-8 weeks.
Music.
44. The Council of Music is responsible in the area for varied forms
of music activity. Here, although formal class work of both the One-Year and Terminal type are organised, there is in addition a great volume of less formal work of every kind.
There were 1$ Terminal and nine One-Year Classes during the year, but while it is
easy to tabulate this, some of the most valuable and appreciated activities cannot be
shown in any statistical return. Gramophones and well chosen records were lent to
organised listening groups, vocal music, orchestral parts, chamber music, miniature
scores, all were made available to groups that needed and could use them. Amateur
orchestras were assisted by the loan of instruments and by visits from professional conductors.
Conferences for conductors were arranged and students sent to Summer Schools, while the instructors conducted music making groups in the Clubs and organised periodical Inter-Club Festivals.
45. As a climax to all this musical activity the Council of Music organises the Three Valleys Festival. The eighth festival was held at Mountain Ash on May
27th, 28th and 29th, with Dr. Malcolm Sargent as conductor-in-chief. The main works performed were Handel's " The Messiah," Elgar's " The Music Makers," Vincent Thomas' " Song of the Wind," Verdi's " Requiem," and " Sanctus " and " Dona Nobis " from Mass in B minor by Bach.
20 Popular Lectures.
46. What may be termed the elementary phase of adult education, single lectures on a variety of subjects and short courses of six lectures, is organised by the Education
Department of the Y.M.C.A. in Wales. Week by week throughout the Winter well- attended lectures are given in Workmen's Institutes, Churches and Chapels, Men's
Clubs and Women's Clubs, and Boys' and Girls' Clubs. The seeds sown in this manner often germinate into a demand for a course of study in the form of a Short
Course under the Y.M.C.A. or a terminal Course under the W.E.A. During the
Session 1937-38, the following programme was undertaken :—Single Lectures, 2,152,
Short Courses, 108.
Listening Groups.
47. An interesting experiment was conducted for the first time last year when a sum of £200 was made available by the Committee to the Welsh Area Council for
Group Listening. The money was used for paying small fees to selected leaders of Wire¬ less Listening Groups organised in the area. The duty of the leader was primarily to prepare for and lead the discussion which followed the talk. During the Autumn Term,
27 Groups were organised and the average attendance in each Group was 12. During the
Spring Term as many as 32 Groups were organised. The experiment in this new form of adult education has proved an unqualified success and it is hoped to increase and develop the work still further next session.
Drama.
48. There is still no Council of Drama for Wales, and while it hopes for its establishment, the Council through its Drama Committee does what it can to remedy the defect. The experiment of appointing a full-time Drama Organiser on the staff, in the person of Mr. Haydn Davies, has led to a considerable augmentation of the
Drama work being done in the area during the past year. This experiment was made possible by a grant from Special Areas funds and by the readiness of the Rhondda
Local Education Authority to release Mr. Davies for the work.
49. Further additions have been made to the library of plays during the past year and the demand from groups in the area is also increasing. Curtain sets, and now a stage lighting set, are also available to borrowers.
50. The main service rendered, however, still lies in the availability of the Drama
Organisers, Mr. Haydn Davies, Mr. Afan Jones and, in Monmouthshire, Mr. D. L.
Jones, who is Secretary of the Monmouthshire Drama League, and the advisers who have visited most of the groups in the more critical stages of their preparations. In this connection the Council wishes to acknowledge with deep gratitude the services of Mr. George McLaurien, who has voluntarily acted as adviser in the Maesteg area during the winter.
51. The Annual Play Writing competition brought in 58 original plays in one act,
40 in English and 18 in Welsh. Three plays in each language were rehearsed and given public performance. The comment of the judges on the standard of the work submitted was definitely encouraging. t- 52. Ten Day-Schools of two sessions each, and four week-end Schools, each with
four sessions, were arranged at different centres. One week-end school was devoted
entirely to a study of Welsh Drama. The schools were given a practical bias, each
lecture being accompanied, wherever possible, by demonstrations. The subjects
studied included acting, production, verse speaking, stage management, speech training,
decorative and stage properties, mime and movement. Two Courses of six Lectures
were arranged to stimulate interest in new areas, and from one of these, in particular,
a number of potential drama groups have been formed.
Coleg Harlech.
53. The culminating point of this work of adult education is Coleg Harlech,
the Welsh Residential College for Adult Education. The Council sends a selected
number of students to the Short Courses of four or six weeks provided by the College,
and there the student is enabled to continue his educational activities in an atmosphere
conducive to study and far removed from the hurly burly of life in the industrial
valleys. More important even than this is the existence of such a college and its
primary provision for sessional students. There can be no doubt but that Coleg
Harlech, both as the Mecca of many class students and the training ground of many
class teachers, is rapidly being recognised as the coping stone to Adult Education in
Wales.
Libraries.
54. The activities of the Council in connection with Libraries are closely allied
to, if they are not an essential part of, its educational work. A preliminary survey
of the libraries of Workmen's Institutes showed that these institutions, which have been
for decades the pride of a prolific and selective reading public, had greatly deteriorated
as a result of the industrial depression. Many of the libraries had been unable to
afford a new book since 1927, and almost all of them were sadly depleted and out of
date. This misfortune had overcome them at a time when the same causes had resulted
in a vast increase in enforced leisure, and when the resulting demand for reading
material was perhaps greater than ever before.
55. Proposals were drafted for the rehabilitation of these libraries and submitted
to the Commissioner through the National Council of Social Service, with the result
that the Commissioner for the Special Areas sanctioned a grant of £10,000. The
Library Committee of the Council has been busy administering this grant, which in the
end embraced the need, not only of Workmen's Institutes, but of Public Libraries and
Settlements as well. A considerable proportion of the grant has already been expended
and progress is being made in expending the balance, possibly not as rapidly as was
hoped, but nevertheless steadily and in a manner which should eventually prove of
lasting benefit to the recipients.
56. This service, which the Council has been privileged to administer, calls
for no justification here, and the genuine thanks of the beneficiaries throughout the
area go to the Commissioner for his timely grant.
23 I- EDUCATIONAL SETTLEMENTS
57. This report could not claim to be in any way a conspectus of Social Service
in South Wales unless it made specific reference to the work of the Educational
Settlements. The year has seen the welcome establishment of a new Settlement
at Pontypridd and the assumption by Community House, Brynmawr, of a larger
sphere of activity, and there are now in South Wales nine of these power houses of
friendship, service, and education situated as follows :—
Rhondda . . The Maesyrhaf Settlement, Trealaw Mr. & Mrs. William Noble.
Merthyr . . The Merthyr Settlement Vacancy.
Risca . . Oxford House Mr. & Mrs. Settlement, Risca . . J. V. Alexander.
Mr. & Mrs. Ivor Thomas. Pontypool . . The Pontypool Settlement, Rockhill
Road, Pontypool.
Mr. & Mrs. Bargoed .. The Bargoed Settlement, Cardiff J. H. Thomas.
Road, Bargoed.
Aberdare . . Mr. and Mrs. Coleg Gwerin Cynon, Aberdare . . J. Victor Evans.
Miss Eileen Thomas. Brynmawr .. Community House, Brynmawr
Mr. and Mrs. T. Pontypridd .. The Pontypridd Settlement, Taff Glyn Davies.
Street, Pontypridd.
Dowlais .. Trewern House Mr. John Dennithorne.
Senghenydd Community House Mrs. Ada Wright.
$8. In addition, Cardiff, Barry and Penarth has been defined as a " Settlement
area " and a new Governing Body and. its officers under the honorary Wardenship
of Mr. R. H. Lomas are seeking to provide somewhat similar facilities in that area.
59. While it should be emphasised that each Settlement is an independent
self-governing unit with its own ideas and methods and its own financial problems,
they are all willing partners in the work with which the Council is concerned. The
work in clubs for men and women referred to in this report is undertaken in their areas
by the various Settlements and the helpful advice and co-operation of the Wardens
is available to the Council in committees and otherwise when work of a general
regional character is planned. There is a happy interchange of staff and ideas and a
partnership such as this, in which independent units living daily amid the problems
co-operate with a central regional body, of which they are themselves a vital con¬
stituent part, goes far to preserve vitality and variety in this work and is a helpful safeguard against the disadvantages of centralisation. It is impossible to deal in any adequate way in this report with the work of the Settlements and the Council can
only emphasise here their important place in the general structure of social and
cultural work in South Wales.
24 The New Settlement House at Risca. RURAL LIFE
60. The Council has been enabled to increase its experience this year by a
grant from the Commissioner for Special Areas which made possible the appointment
of a Rural Advisory Officer to work in the Vale of Glamorgan. Mr. R. C. Richards
was appointed to the post in May, 1937, and, while it is too soon yet to draw any definite conclusions, it is already evident that the normal problems of community life
in rural areas are even greater when an area borders on a large industrial community.
61. The Vale of Glamorgan is an area of very scattered population and unusually
small villages. In common with the whole of rural Wales there is not, as in England,
a natural focus point such as the Church or the " Big House," and there is a consequent
unfamiliarity with the conception of village co-operation. The problem is made even
more difficult when large centres of population are near enough to be the main
attraction for amusement and recreation, and very often the locale of senior and central
schools and evening classes.
62. Two major problems have clearly to be faced in any attempt to help in building
a vital community life in this area. The depression of recent years has had its inevitable
effect on the area, especially by causing the migration of young people and a general
decrease in the employment of agricultural labour. Meanwhile plans designed to
promote recovery and to provide work, particularly in the establishment of the Land
Settlement at Boverton and the Aerodrome at St. Athan, are clearly resulting in an
influx into this rural area of industrial workers with urban backgrounds, and it will
prove a difficult task indeed, to integrate them into the real traditions and habits of
rural fife.
63. So far the officer has been concerned mainly with a survey of the area and its
needs, and with a few experiments in providing village activities. The work of the
W.E.A. and the University Committee for Tutorial Classes, which have been conducted
in the area for several years, has proved a large point of contact, and it is hoped from
these classes it may be possible to find that essential leadership which is so much more
necessary in an area in which there is not an adequate supply of resident leaders such
as landlords, ministers, and teachers.
64. During the year four " Keep Fit " classes for women and four for men, and
five classes in Homecraft and Handicraft have been established, either in existing
Women's Institutes or in villages where nothing of the kind has been known before.
65. It is hoped that in time the Council will be successful in developing, to its maximum, community activity in this area, but the sparseness of the population
and the inadequacy of accommodation are making it a very difficult task. Meanwhile
the benefit of the experience of the National Council of Social Service in rural work,
and close links with the already established Rural Community Councils in Monmouth¬
shire and Pembrokeshire are at the disposal of the Council in its attempt to serve this new area.
26
RESEARCH
66. The basis of ail wise social service is a sound knowledge of social facts and
the only origin of such knowledge is in research and enquiry. While it is probably
true that there can be too many reports there can hardly be too much information, and
the Council has sought during the past year to equip itself with as much information
about the area as could possibly be gleaned. Much of this work has been undertaken
by various officers in their spare time and too high a tribute cannot be paid to them,
and to the cordial co-operation of a very large number of people who have been troubled
with questionnaires.
Carnegie 67. The main enquiry that is being conducted under the wing of the Council
Trust is that instituted by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust into the 18 plus Age Group.
Enquiry. This enquiry, which is in the hands of Mr. A. J. Lush, is now more than half com¬
pleted and the Council hopes in the course of a year or so to place in the hands of the
Trustees what it is convinced will be a most valuable report on this important problem.
Local 68. Special surveys have also been made of one or two townships and larger
Surveys. areas, and the Council is specially concerned at the moment with the general situation
prevailing in the Gwendraeth Valley, which appears to have many of the needs and
none of the advantages of a Special Area.
Health 69. One of the most important enquiries the Council itself has initiated has been
Benefits. into the provision of dental and ophthalmic treatment by Friendly Societies, and the
eligibility of men and women in South Wales for such provision. The survey, which
is incomplete, has revealed already a disquieting variation of practice and shows that
a very large number of people are not in benefit for either of these two essential
services.
The Free 7°- Equal in importance has been the survey, now completed, that has recently
Churches. been made into the position of the Free Churches in the Special Areas of South
Wales with special reference to their accumulated capital debts. A strong representa¬
tive consultative committee was formed which, after a great deal of willing labour,
prepared a memorial on the situation which has now been submitted to the proper
quarter. Officers of the Council willingly placed their services at the disposal of this
Committee.
Old Men. 71 • Three other problems are engaging the attention of the Council at the present
time, and it is hoped that in regard to each of them further information will provide the basis of proposals sound enough to secure the necessary financial support. The
problem of old-age pensioners and other old men, especially the quite large number
who are alone and live in lodgings, is one that should receive far greater consideration
than it has hitherto been accorded. There is little or no special provision for these
old people, who very often spend the whole of their time congregated in ill-lit and
ill-furnished rooms, in clubs or institutes, and no adequate attempts have been made to
provide either for their comfort or their interests.
Children. 72. A problem at the other end of the scale is that of Play Centre provision for
young children. One motor drive through any valley on a winter's evening is all the evidence that is necessary of the great need that there is of the opening and equipment
28
of are as Centres where children who yet too young to join Boys' and Girls' Clubs can
go for shelter and leadership in their recreation. Some experiments have already been
made, notably by the Maes-yr-haf Settlement in the Rhondda Valley, and it is hoped
that these will prove the basis for the immediate development of a more comprehensive
scheme which would supplement any progress made in the provision of Nursery
Schools.
Employed 73. Finally, the immensity and urgency of the unemployment problem has
Men. loomed so large in recent years as to obscure the question of the normal recreational
needs of employed men, and the possible changes in these needs consequent upon
the increasing mechanisation of industry. Little or nothing is known of this in South
Wales at the present time and the Council hopes, during the year ahead, to produce a
report on this problem which it hopes will be of some value.
74. It cannot be too much emphasised that the motive of this kind of research
is not mere inquisitiveness, as its purpose is not merely the collection of data. It is
rather that the Council is willing to place its machinery at the disposal of any who
will co-operate in discovering deficiencies of social provision with a view to their
remedy.
30 PERSONAL WELFARE
75. The passing years only serve to intensify the need for welfare work of a The Need. personal character in South Wales. Poverty alone gives rise to more problems than can be dealt with, and when this poverty derives from unemployment and involves, as it does, a living within regulations of one kind or another, the need for advice and assistance is overwhelming.
76. The Council recognises that it cannot hope, from a central office, to deal effectively with the more important side of this work. For the great need is for personal friendship and care, and it is difficult, if not impossible, for either of these to emerge from an administrative centre. The Council is glad to acknowledge that from its own experience a great volume of this real work is being done in the area by many people : ministers, schoolmasters, police officers, Trade Union leaders, the Wardens of the Educational Settlements, and, not by any means least of all, officials of the Ministry of Labour and the Unemployment Assistance Board, are in very large numbers the acknowledged friends and guides of the people. The demand, however, is so great that even this great army of friends is inadequate to the need.
Meanwhile, the Council does what it can, not only through the service of its Personal
Welfare Officer, but through all its officers in the course of their work.
77. Primarily the work of the Personal Welfare Department is that of an Informa-
Information Bureau and Liaison Office. The need for advice and information tion. regarding assistance, both statutory and voluntary, that is available for personal needs in the sphere of health, education, legal problems and sheer poverty, is only equalled by the need for knowing where and how to apply. The Council has by now a very extensive knowledge of available services, and with every passing month the number of persons it is asked to put in touch with some department or society is steadily increasing.
78. It is very much to be deplored that there is still no general system of Poor
Persons' Legal Advice in South Wales, and while recognising the great volume of work that is being done by individual members of the profession, the Council feels very strongly that some official and regulated approach ought to be made to this problem.
79. The concern of individuals and groups in more prosperous England for Adoption. the men and women source a of South Wales is another of great deal of work by this
Department. The system of adoption in friendship initiated by Canon Pat
McCormick has grown with the years, and there are now many hundreds of families in South Wales linked up by correspondence, if not by visits, with new-found friends.
80. From time to time the Council receives small sums to administer through this department, and more frequently still is asked to investigate the needs and some¬ times the bona fides of applications that have been made. This is a work which makes great demands upon time, tact and patience, but it is one the Council is convinced of the greatest possible value.
81. The work of educational assistance continues within the narrow limits of Education. the funds available, and while the Council is happy in the knowledge that some children
3i of poor parents have been helped to a fuller life in the colleges to which they have won
their way, it is distressed each year by the very large number of equally deserving cases
that it is unable to help owing to lack of funds for the purpose.
82. The Council would acknowledge gratefully the many forms of assistance
that have been given to this department—the action of The Holiday Fellowship in
making it possible for 30 school children to spend a delightful week in their hostel
at Llandogo ; the contributors whose donations made possible Christmas parties
for 4,896 children; the individuals who have accepted responsibility for helping
young men and women in college; the ever ready advice of the Council's Honorary
Legal Advisers, Messrs. Edwards & Rees Williams, of Cardiff, and many other forms
of help alone make the work of this department possible.
Village 83. Special mention needs also to be made of the action of the staffs of two London
Adoption. offices in adopting and helping materially, the one Blaengwynfi, and the other
Ponthenry, and of the Post Office Engineering Department Social Service Association,
who have adopted and very materially helped the Clubs in the Maesteg area.
84. The nature of the work is such that it ought not to be described in very
great detail, and it cannot seek publicity for itself, but the Council is convinced that
if a wider public understood the deep-seated need for work of this kind, and realised
the value of that small amount of it that can be done at present, then much more
generous and sympathetic support, even than is already available, would be forthcoming.
32 REPORT OF THE FINANCE AND GENERAL
PURPOSES COMMITTEE
In view of the incorporation of the Council, and our anticipation that it
will now enter on a new phase as a representative body in South Wales, this is the last
Report to be submitted by the Committee under its present name and constitution.
The foregoing pages reveal the course and development of the Council's
work during the past year and the Committee would only report that, both in regard
to the work done and the new policy and status envisaged for the future, it has given
its most anxious attention to the many problems that have arisen, and can only hope
that time will justify its decisions.
The Committee wishes to acknowledge the help and assistance which it has
received in unstinted measure from the National Council of Social Service, and records
its especial gratitude for the confidence which is the basis of that Council's recent
decision to devolve upon the South Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social
Service the responsibility for all its work in South Wales.
This year again the Ministry of Labour and the Commissioner for Special
Areas have shown very material evidence of their sympathy with the Council's work, and
in acknowledging it, the Committee wishes to refer with gratitude to visits paid during
the year both by the Minister of Labour and Sir George Gillett. Cordial thanks are
also due to the Welsh Department of the Board of Education for their ever ready help
in the Council's educational activities, and in regard to the local administration of the
School Camps.
The future holds many responsibilities, but equal possibilities, and the
Committee is confident that the support and co-operation of the whole community
will be forthcoming. Not the least amongst the immediate needs is that for additional
financial support. Each new task assumed and each additional grant received serves
only to increase the Council's own liabilities and need for voluntary income. The
Committee acknowledge with gratitude the considerable support it has received from
many sources, and would express especial gratitude for the great help rendered by the
Countess of Plymouth both in raising funds and in other ways, but much more money is
needed and contributions are earnestly sought for the maintenance of this work.
No report such as this can be complete without some reference to the work
of the permanent officers of the Council, and the Committee wishes to place on record
its deep appreciation of the work that has been done and the efficient and sympathetic
way in which it has been carried out. The Committee would also record their thanks
for the invaluable voluntary services rendered by Mr. James Walton and Mr. George
McLauren, which are referred to elsewhere in the report.
Finally the Committee has to refer with the deepest possible regret to the retire¬
ment of Sir Percy Watkins. It can truly be said that the South Wales and Monmouth¬
shire Council of Social Service owes more to him than to any other person, and its
growth and development during the last four years is due in very large measure to his
wise guidance and unfailing support. Both in Committee as its adviser and elsewhere
as its advocate he has rendered the Council a service without which it could never have
accomplished the work it has, nor fitted itself for the tasks ahead. The true effect of
his retirement has yet to be realised, but the Committee, in wishing him many further
years of activity and happiness, hopes very much that his counsel will still be available
to it in committee and in other ways.
33 FINANCE
As shown by this report the work of the Council continues to expand. During the year ended 31st March, 1938, the sums administered by the Council were larger than in any previous year. Grants received from the National Council of Social
Service amounted to £51,823. Of this amount £11,220 was derived from the Ministry of Labour Fund and £40,603 from Special Areas Fund. In addition a grant of £1,651 for the purchase and extension of the Council's premises has been received from the
Commissioner for Special Areas. Income from other sources amounted to £9,004, which includes £1,550 from the Pilgrim Trust, £619 from the Carnegie (U.K.) Trust and £2,080 from certain Local Authorities towards the cost of educational work in their areas. In order to make possible the programme outlined in this report, the
Council had to raise the balance, amounting to £4,755, from other sources.
The Council wishes to emphasise that each new grant brings with it an increased liability to raise funds from voluntary sources and appeals most earnestly for help to meet its growing commitments.
The total expenditure during the year amounted to nearly £58,000 and the credit balances on the various fund accounts all represent commitments for work undertaken during the current year.
Copies of the detailed accounts and list of subscribers will be supplied on demand.
34 APPENDIX I.
A.
THE SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE COUNCIL
OF SOCIAL SERVICE.
GENERAL COUNCIL.
I. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.
The Lords Lieutenant of the Counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, Brecon,
Carmarthen and Pembroke.
The Honorary Officers of the Council who shall consist of a President, a
Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and a
Treasurer.
II. MEMBERS OF VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS.
Organisations. Members.
University Extension Board .. Principal J. F. Rees.
.. Mr. Jenkin James.
W.E.A. .. Professor W. J. Roberts.
.. Mr. D. E. Evans.
Y.M.C.A. .. The Countess of Plymouth.
.. Mr. W. J. Pate.
National Council of Music. . Sir Walford Davies.
.. Mr. J. C. Mclean.
Settlements .. Mr. William Noble.
.. Mr. J. H. Thomas.
County and County Boroughs .. Councillor T. J. Parry Jones.
.. Alderman W. J. Davies.
Education Committees Sir William Jenkins, M.P.
.. Mr. T. J. Rees.
Y.W.C.A. .. Miss Reardon Smith.
Secondary Schools . . Miss Gertrude Richards.
Elementary Schools .. Mr. A. C. Smith.
.. Physical Training Teachers. . Mr. Tom Davies.
Churches .. Canon The Rev. J. A. Lewis.
.. Rev. J. Penry Thomas.
Salvation Army .. Captain John Markham.
Miners' Welfare Fund .. Mr. C. S. Mason.
.. British Broadcasting Corporation .. Major Edgar Jones.
Drama .. Rev. E. R. Dennis.
National Playing Fields Association .. Mr. W. H. L. Chattin.
Coleg Harlech .. Mr. B. B. Thomas.
Rural Community Councils .. Mr. D. W. L. Jones.
35 National Transport and General
Workers' Union .. Alderman T. W. Hughes.
Welsh School of Social Service .. Rev. Gwilym Davies.
Urdd Gobaith Cymru .. Professor H. Lewis.
Boys' Clubs .. Captain Glynn Jones.
Girls' Clubs .. Mrs. Miles Davies.
.. Boy Scouts. . Mr. Aubrey Jenkins,
Girl Guides .. Mrs. Henrietta Lomas.
South Wales Federation of Boys'
Brigades .. Mr. S. S. Andrews.
Toe H .. Mr. James Burford.
British Legion .. Mr. A. Kennedy Hunt.
Rotary Clubs .. Mr. R. J. Auckland.
Red Cross Association .. Sir Ewen Maclean.
St. John Ambulance .. Hon. J. H. Bruce.
Juvenile Organisations Institutes .. Mr. Ben Williams.
Juvenile Organisations Council .. Alderman Sir Herbert Hiles
.. Mr. South Wales Libraries Association .. Harry Farr.
Youth Hostels Association .. Mrs. Stanley Parris.
Town Social Councils .. Alderman A. E. Gough.
Glamorgan County Nursing
Association .. The Marchioness of Bute.
Monmouthshire County Nursing
Association .. Lady Herbert.
Townwomen's Guilds .. Miss Ward Pearson.
Alliance of Honour .. Mr. Theodore Tucker.
III. OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
Captain Twiston Davies ; Miss Margaret Edwards ; Professor Joseph Jones ,
Mrs. Mansel Lewis ; Lord Merthyr; Mr. M. J. Turnbull; Lady (Rhys)
Williams ; Mr. R. R. Williams ; Mr. W. J. Williams (Cardiff); Professor
Marquand.
IV. ASSESSORS.
District Commissioner (Special
Areas) Captain Geoffrey Crawshay.
Board of Education Mr. W. J. Williams (Llanelly)
Mr. A. G. Prys Jones, H.M.I,
Ministry of Labour Mr. R. Pierce Jones, O.B.E.
Ministry of Health Mr. J. Owain Evans, C.B.E.
Ministry of Agriculture Mr. C. Bryner Jones, C.B.E.
National Council of Social
Service Sir Percy E. Watkins, Ll.D.
36 B.
COMMITTEES OF THE SOUTH WALES AND
MONMOUTHSHIRE COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE
1937-38
FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE.
Chairman: L. Twiston Davies, O.B.E., D.L., F.S.A.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE.
Chairman : Jenkin James, O.B.E., M.A.
HEALTH SERVICES COMMITTEE.
Chairman : Sir Ewen J. Maclean, M.D.
COMMITTEE FOR WOMEN'S WORK.
Chairman : The Countess of Plymouth.
LIBRARIES COMMITTEE.
Chairman : Harry Farr, F.L.A.
DRAMA SUB-COMMITTEE.
Chairman : Professor Ernest Hughes, M.A.
JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON
WORKMEN'S INSTITUTES.
Chairman : George Hall, M.P.
37 APPENDIX II.
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE SOUTH WALES AND
MONMOUTHSHIRE COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE.
General Assistant Secretary Lyn Howell.
Assistant Secretaries :
Finance Eric L. Morris.
Honorary James Walton.
Carnegie Enquiry A. J. Lush.
Administration . . R. D. V. Roberts.
Area Advisory Officers :
West Wales D. Iorwerth Llewellyn
Mid Glamorgan J. Dolfryn Davies.
East Glamorgan Mervyn D. Evans.
Rural Glamorgan R. C. Richards.
West Monmouthshire John W. Roberts.
Rural Monmouthshire (Part Time) D. W. L. Jones.
Women Advisory Officer Lilian Richards
Handicrafts :
Organiser (Men) Paul Matt.
Organiser (Women) Gwen G. Jeffery.
Physical Education :
Organiser (Men) Neil Collins.
District Organisers (Women) Betty Meredith Jones
Edith Wigham.
Homecraft :
Organiser May Sessions.
Drama
Organiser D. Haydn Davies.
Part Time Advisors J. Afan Jones.
D. W. L. Jones.
38 APPENDIX III.
A.
GRANTS MADE BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SOCIAL
SERVICE TO CLUBS AND CENTRES IN SOUTH WALES.
April i, 1937, T0 March 31, 1938.
I.
Grants towards the cost of erecting or heating new premises, or purchasing, reconditioning or heating old premises, amounting in the aggregate to £11,775, were made to the following Clubs :—
Name Name of Club or Centre. of Club or Centre.
Aberaman Institute. Llangynwyd.
Aberbargoed. Llwynypia.
Abercanaid. Merthyr—Mountain Hare.
Aberdare. ,, Plymouth Road.
Nelson. Abergwynfi.
Abernant. Newbridge.
Abersychan. Newtown.
Abertysswg. Penarth.
Blackwood. Pengam.
Blaina—Henwain Street. Penycoedcae.
Pentrebach ,, High Street. Upper.
Blaenavon. Philipstown.
Briton Ferry. Pontyclun.
Cefn Coed. Pontycymmer Garw '33.
Cefn Hengoed. Pontypridd—Danycoedcae.
Cilfynydd. Graig.
Clydach. ,, Graigwen.
Cwmcarn. ,, Trallwn.
Porthcawl. Cwmllynfell.
Cwmtillery West Side. Pyle.
Cymmer—Home Hut Friendship Club. RJhymney.
Darranlas. Stanleytown.
Deri. Taffs Well.
Dinas. Tonna—Aberdulais.
Treforest—Central. Dowlais—Aged Comrades.
,, ,, Blaen. Park Guild.
,, Gwernllwyn. Treorchy. Trinant. „ Hafod.
Gadlys. * Twynrodyn.
Garnant—Cwmamman. Tylorstown No. 1.
Garth. Tylorstown No. 2.
Gilwern. Wattsville.
Winchestown. Heolgerrig.
Heolycyw. Ystruth, Cwmcelyn.
Llanbradach. Ynysboeth.
Llangeinor.
39 II.
Grants towards the cost of equipment, etc., amounting in the aggregate to £1,290,
were made to the following Clubs :—
Name Name of Club or Centre. of Club or Centre.
Aberbargoed. Ferndale and Tylorstown Coal.
Aberdare. Gadlys.
Abergwynfi. Garnant—Cwmamman.
Abernant. Gilwern.
Abersychan. Llwynypia.
Abertysswg. Nelson.
Blackwood. Pengam.
Blaenavon. Pentrebach Upper.
Blaina—Central Coal. Penycoedcae.
,, High Street. Pontycymmer—Garw '33.
Briton Ferry. Pontypridd—Graigwen.
Cefn Hengoed. Porthcawl.
Cilfynydd. Pyle.
Clydach. Stanleytown.
Cwmcarn. Treforest—Park Guild.
Cwmllynfell. Tonna and Aberdulais.
Cwmtillery West Side. Trinant.
Deri. Twynrodyn.
Dowlais—Aged Comrades. Tylorstown No. 2.
Wattsville. ,, Blaen.
Winchestown. ,, Gwernllwyn.
,, Hafod. Ynysboeth.
40 APPENDIX III.
B.
GRANTS
MADE BY THE SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE
COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE TO CLUBS AND CENTRES
IN SOUTH WALES.
(NOTE.—These grants are made under powers delegated by the National Council oj
Social Service.)
Grants amounting to £2,383 12s. 3d. were approved during the year to the following
Clubs :—
Craftwork. Physical Training.
Abersychan League of Service. Abercanaid.
Blackwood. Abercregan.
Blaendowlais. Abergwynfi—Blue Pilgrims.
Blaenllechau. Abernant.
Cwmamman Institute. Barry Churches and Unemployed Move¬
Dowlais—Hafod. ment.
Dunvant. Blaendowlais.
Ely. Briton Ferry.
Ferndale. Caerau—Spelters Club.
Gadlys. Cardiff—Grangetown Club.
Garnant. Chepstow Council of Social Service.
Garndiffaith. Cilfynydd.
Gilwern Community Club. Clydach.
Graigwen and District. Crickhowell, Llangattock and District.
Kenfig Hill. Cwmbran.
Landore. Cwmcarn.
Llantwit Fardre. Cwmllynfell.
Machen. Cymmer Home Hut.
Maerdy. Danycoedcae.
Darranlas. Merthyr Vale.
Miskin Park Fellowship. Dinas.
Morriston. Dowlais—Hafod Club.
41 Craftwork. Physical Training.
Mountain Ash. Dunvant.
Park Rovers. Garnant.
Pentre Riverside. Garth (Maesteg).
Penyard. Garthnewydd (Merthyr).
Pontypridd—Graig. Gilfach Goch.
Porth. Graigwen and District.
Rhydfelin. Griffithstown.
Rhymney. Hendreforgan.
Risca. Heolycyw.
Senghenydd. Llangeinor.
Skewen. Llantrisant.
Tonna and Aberdulais. Llwydcoed.
Tonteg and District. Miskin Park Fellowship.
Tonypandy. Nantgarw.
Tonyrefail. Nantymoel Unemployed and Ministers'
Tredegar—Hostel of the Good Shep¬ Club.
herd. Pantygasseg.
Trehafod. Pengam.
Treherbert. Pentre.
Tylorstown No. i Club. Penycoedcae.
Tylorstown No. 2 Club. Penygraig—House 0' The Trees.
Ynysybwl. Plymouth Road, Merthyr.
Ponthenry.
Pontsticill.
Pontyclun.
Pontypool League of Service.
Pontygwaith.
Porth.
Pwlldu.
Pyle.
Rhydfelin.
St. Brides Minor Memorial Hall.
Skewen.
St. Tudors, Merthyr.
Swansea—Brynhyfryd, Plasmarl and
Treboeth.
Swansea.—Y.M.C.A.
Taffs Well.
Tonna and Aberdulais.
Tonteg and District.
Treherbert.
Twynyrodyn.
Tylorstown No. 2 Club.
Varteg.
Woodfieldside, Blackwood.
Ynysboeth and Matthewstown.
42 Homecraft. Keep Fit.
Aberaman No. i. Aberaman No. 1.
Aberaman No. 2. Aberdare Townswomcn.
Abercanaid. Aberkenfig.
Abersychan—Snatchwood. Blaenavon.
Abertillery—Dimlands. Blaengarw.
Argoed. Blaina—Henwain Street.
Beaufort. ,, Home Camp.
Brynmawr. Bryncethin.
Caerau—Spelters. Cilfynydd.
Cilfynydd. Cwm.
Clydach. Cwmamman.
Cwmavon. Danycoedcae.
Cwmbran. Darranlas.
Cwmbran—Upper. Deri.
Cwmcelyn. Glanyrafon.
Ebbw Vale. Hopkinstown.
Forgehammer. Llwynypia.
Forgeside. Maerdy.
Garndiffaith. Maesteg.
Garnyrerw. Mountain Ash.
Griffithstown. Nantgarw.
Kenfig Hill. Ogmore Vale.
Llanelly Hill. Onllwyn.
Llanhilleth. Pantygraigwen.
Llantrisant. Resolven.
Maesteg—Educational. Stanleytown.
Merthyr—Tabernacle. Taffs Well.
Nantyglo. Tavarnaubach.
Nantymoel. Tonna and Aberdulais.
Ogmore Vale. Trallwn.
Pantygraigwen. Tredegar—Good Shepherd.
Pengarnddu. Treforest.
Penmark. Treherbert.
Penrhiwceiber. Treorchy and Cwmparc.
Pentre. Troedyrhiw.
Pontypool. Tylorstown No. 2.
Pontypridd. Victoria and Waunllwyd.
Pontypridd—Mutual Service. Wattstown.
Resolven. Winchestown.
Rhydfelin. Wyndham Junior.
Six Bells. Ynyshir.
Tonyrefail. Ynysybwl.
Trecynon.
Treherbert.
Tynewydd.
Varteg.
Wyndham.
Ystrad.
43 Handicrafts and Dressmaking. Materials.
Aberaman No. 2. Abergwynfi—Blue Pilgrims.
Aberdare. Abersychan—Snatchwood.
Aberfan. Blaina—Henwain Street.
Abersychan—Snatchwood. ,, High Street.
Abertysswg. ,, Home Camp.
Argoed. Bryncethin.
Blaendowlais. Brynmenyn.
Blaengwynh. Clydach.
Blaina—High Street. Crynant.
Bryncethin. Danycoedcae.
Brynmenyn. Dowlais—Hafod.
Caerau—True Blue. Garndiffaith.
Caerau—Spelters. Garnyrerw.
Cefn Hengoed. Garw '33 Club.
Cilfynydd. Georgetown, Tredegar.
Clwydyfagwyr. Glynneath.
Clydach. Hirwaun.
Cwmavon. Llanelly Hill.
Cwmbran—Upper. Llantrisant.
Danycoedcae. Machen.
Darranlas. Markham.
Dowlais—Hafod. Mountain Ash.
Ferndale. Nantyglo—Good Neighbours.
Garndiffaith. Newbridge—Oxford House.
Garnyrerw. Onllwyn.
Garw '33 Club. Pantygraigwen.
Gilfach. Pembroke Dock Y.W.C.A.
Gilwern Community Club. Penlleyn.
Heolycyw. Penmark.
Hollybush. Penycoedcae.
Hopkinstown. Plymouth Road, Merthyr.
Llangeinor. Pontycymmer.
Llangynwyd. Port Talbot Y.W.C.A.
Llanhilleth. Pyle and Kenfig.
Llantrisant. Resolven.
Machen. Tavarnaubach.
Markham. Tonteg and District.
Merthyr—St. Mary's Guild. Trallwn.
Mountain Hare. Trebeferad.
Nantgarw. Treoes.
Nantyglo—Good Neighbours. Treorchy & Cwmparc.
Newbridge—Oxford House. Ynysboeth.
Onllwyn.
Park Guild No. 2.
Penycoedcae.
Plymouth Road, Merthyr.
Pontlottyn.
Pont^cymmer.
44 Handicrafts and Dressmaking.
Pontypridd—Graig. Tredegar—Good Shepherd.
Port Talbot—Y.W.C.A. Treforest.
Pyle. Treforest Sewing Club.
Pyle and Kenfig. Treharris.
Rhydfelin. Treherbert.
Stanleytown. Treorchy and Cwmparc.
Tavarnaubach. Trinant and Cwmnantygynt.
Tiryberth. Twynyrodyn.
Tonna and Aberdulais. Tylorstown No. i.
Tonteg and District. Tylorstown No. 2.
Trallwn. Wyndham.
Trebeferad. Ynysboeth.
45
SUBSCRIPTION FORM
To the Hon. Treasurer,
South Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service,
2, Cathedral Road,
Cardiff.
I enclose £ : : Donation — ^ the funds of the South Wales Subscription and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service,
or
I have this day forwarded to my Bankers, Messrs
an Order to pay to the account of the South
Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service now and on
each year the sum of £ : :
Name
Address
Date
To (a)
Please pay now and on in each succeeding
year until further notice by the undersigned, the sum of £ : : to the
Midland Bank, Limited, Queen Street, Cardiff, for the credit of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service.
Signature (2d. Stamp)
Address
Date
(a) Please insert Name and Branch of your Bankers.
Subscriptions and Donations from 2/6 upwards will also be gratefully received.